Tag Archives: Omaha

There were some folks that were worried about thunderstorms creeping into Omaha on Wednesday, but they never materialized. On the other hand, when they did crop up, they did so initially as light pre-frontal rain on Thursday. The clouds and rain were generally widely anticipated, but the fact that the overcast skies kept temperatures in the low 70s? That was not what anyone had in mind. Accuweather did keep temperatures the coolest, forecasting a high of only 78 on Friday, and that ended up being the difference, despite being 5 degrees off from the correct high. They were able to claim victory in Omaha.
Actuals: Wednesday – High 84, Low 53
Thursday – .11 inches of rain, High 73, Low 62

It’s a whole new work week and it’s time to get back to the grind. How do things look in Omaha?

At 653PM, CT, Omaha was reporting a temperature of 68 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. An inverted trough was bringing a steady light rain to the upper Midwest, and Omaha found itself just to the west of this swath and in rapidly clearing skies. Areas that have enjoyed even a little bit of sun have seen temperatures climb fairly quickly in the late afternoon, and provide a hint of what will come tomorrow.
A weak upper level rough will translate through the far northern reaches of the country and induce a warm southerly flow tomorrow, as well as a bit of instability as a lee trough ejects into the Plains. The trough will gain strength into Thursday, and this will be reflected at the surface with a developing cold front. Stcattered prefrontal thunderstorms will be possible in Omaha through the day on Thursday, however the front itself is not expected to roll through town until the very late evening, or perhps even Friday morning.
Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy, warmer, High 81, Low 57
Thursday – Isolated showers and storms, High 82, Low 63

Recent model guidance had begun to suggest that Omaha would dodge a snowy, windy bullet, but at the time of the forecast, it looked like things might be a little dicey there today. We also expected a pretty decent warm up before the nasty weather arrived. Well, the really nasty weather hasn’t quite arrived, and the warm up was cut off as well. Still, good forecasts were mostly seen all around, with a Victoria-Weather/Accuweather tie.
Actuals: Saturday, High 33, Low 20
Sunday, High 38, Low 26

This is an awfully boring trip. Omaha and Billings are fun towns (I can honestly only speak for Omaha) but Billings is a little off the beaten path. It will take a day and a half to cover the ground between the two cities, of which there is 854 miles worth. Given that the largest cities between our terminuses are Sioux Falls and Rapid City, we will move fairly quickly, at a pace of 68.8mph. That means the first day will be done after a whopping 550 miles of driving. Let’s tear up some prairie!

DAY ONE
So, about zipping through the prairies. Yeah…. A low moving out of the Rockies is raising a lot of questions, namely “what the heck is going on?” Depending on what model you want to believe, the system could bring a myriad of different outcomes for the Upper Midwest in terms of snow accumulation, persistence, and direction, but within the past couple of hours, there has been a bit of convergence. The news is not good for eastern South Dakota. Don’t be surprised if for a not insignificant part of South Dakota, likely from when we get onto I-90, lasting through about Vivan, we encounter some freezing drizzle. The precipitation will really intensify later on tomorrow night, but out drive might be fairly tricky. Rain is possible, but with above freezing temperatures from Vivian to Wall, after which point I think we will be be dry. That will take us to Sturgis, where we will call it a night. Keep your eyes peeled for some dudes on motorcycles!

DAY TWO
There will be a fresh dusting of snow as we wake up in Sturgis, but there will likely be a blessed few moments of easy driving as we head out. By the time we reach the Montana border, however, things are going to get a bit dicey. Expect snow and gusty winds to be a problem as we make our way on 212 towards Billings. A fairly robust round of snow will be making it’s way into Billings at about the same time we do, assuming we can continue moving at a fast pace. This short drive has the looks of one that will be fairly interminable thanks to rolling terrain and snowy, blustery conditions. The scenery may not be much to look at, so at least the weather is going to be wild.

At 552PM, ET, Omaha was reporting a temperature of 26 degrees with cloudy skies. Left over clouds across the upper Midwest are a product of warm temperatures overriding a fresh snowpack, with the evaporated moisture getting trapped under high pressure.
There was still a large area of low pressure off the coast of Newfoundland was generating a northerly flow that will do nothing to scour out the Omaha area, but is helping to produce flurries in the Upper Midwest. Given the position of clouds at this time, the northerly flow will mean clouds remain in place tonight and into tomorrow morning, despite how near the clearing is. It may take until tomorrow evening, when the upper level pattern allows for a warm front to force its way through the stratus. The warm front is associated with a fairly strong lee trough, so warming will be both quick and dry
Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy, High 34, Low 19
Sunday – Clearing and much warmer, High 46, Low 26

On the road, but only for the one day! It’s 450 miles between the two cities, which will take us approximately 7 hours to navigate, for a pace of about 63mph. Shall we traverse Iowa?

Much of the Upper Midwest has battled a combination of rain, sleet and snow as a big occluded system has moved through the region. It will mostly be out of the area when we leave Omaha, and we will likely remain dry as we take I-80 through Iowa. The inverted trough is going to dangle in Wisconsin through the night, however, unwilling to leave. There will be a chance at some flurries for Janesville when we arrive, but for the most part, that will be the only real problem, unless traffic in Des Moines is particularly nasty.

Its been a pretty well established trend with the cold front moving through the center of the country. The ceilings behind the front have lingered for almost a full day after it’s passage. That was the case in Omaha, where temperatures refused to fall off at night, despite 45-50mph winds ushering in cold air. The temperatures remained buoyed, much warmer than those who called for a rapid cool down, allowing those (Weatherbug and the Weather Channel) who have incomplete hourly forecasts to somehow manage to secure top forecasts. Despite all the moisture bringing in the clouds, there was very little rain, only a few drops late on Turkey Day. Weatherbug snuck out with the top forecast, but they didn’t have much competition.
Thursday – .05 inches of rain, High 58, Low 42
Friday – High 51, Low 38

Today we embark on a 654-mile trip through every state in the US that starts with an I that doesn’t touch another country! I know, that’s a bit of a stretch, but hey, going through 3 “I” states in one day is still impressive! I wonder if Sesame Street would like to sponsor today’s road trip… Oh well, off we go! Let’s try and get this done in one day, shall we?

As stated in our my forecast for Columbus, a cold front will be making its way through Illinois and Indiana throughout the day today, kicking up some rather heady winds in its’ wake. Luckily, the wind will be coming from the northwest as we travel east from Omaha to the Quad Cities, so that will help us along some. Also, outside of some light scattered showers on the backside of the system, it should be dry as we make our way into Illinois. Shortly after we pass the Quad Cities, however, we’ll finally catch up to the rain and it will slow us down a bit. While the rain could be briefly heavy at times, the total width of the rainfall shouldn’t be too terribly wide, and should only take us a couple hours to make it through the heaviest of the activity. As we emerge into Eastern Illinois by mid-afternoon, we should be out of the woods and while it will remain cloudy, it will at least be dry. Southwesterly winds will be found ahead of the front and be a good 20 degrees warmer than when we were in Iowa, so that will be slightly more pleasant. The rest of our jaunt past Indianapolis into Columbus will be rather uneventful.

At 652PM, CT, Omaha was reporting clear skies with a temperature of 60 degrees. The Missouri Valley was at the back edge of a ridge that was parked over the southeast. A sharp trough over the Rockies was prepared to move quickly through the center of the country.
The system has been unable to tap into much moisture so far, and despite the seasonal strength of the system, it isn’t presently touching off any showers or storms. The system will finally begin drawing moisture late tomorrow, but only after the front is through Omaha. Some isolated showers may wrap around the low, as it will develop rapidly Friday night into Saturday, and an isolated shower or flurry may be possible Friday night or Saturday morning.
Tomorrow – Mostly cloudy and becoming chilly, with a stray drop or flake late. High 59, Low 36
Saturday – Rain snow mix early, but generally mostly cloudy with wind, High 40, Low 26

TWC: Tomorrow – Overcast High 61, Low 45
Saturday – Windy with a few snow showers developing later in the day. High 52, Low 38

I obviously foresee the system moving through the area a bit faster than other outlets, hence my cooler high on Saturday, and chace for flurries already on Friday. Satellite shows a pretty cloudy system.

Yes, as expected over the past couple of days, we saw the development of a front across Nebraska. It initially induced some warmer temperatures for Omaha, which someone (V-W) correctly anticipated. It also didn’t quite pivot through Omaha, and didn’t until this morning, which Weatherbug and the Weather Service correctly anticipated. Omaha did see rain each day of the forecast period (though it was sneaky, coming over the midnight hour), which eventually awarded the top forecast to the NWS and Weatherbug (though V-W did, in fact, nail the precip forecast… we got 3rd)
Actuals: Sunday – .05 inches of rain in a thunderstorms High 88, Low 68
Monday .17 inches of rain in thunderstorms, High 86, Low 69

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